Form is temporary, but class is permanent. However, despite saying that one has to think Yuvraj Singh career is all but over. His batting off late has been horrendous and reflexes have just gone from bad to worse over past year or so. From being one of the best timers of the ball – Yuvis has just lost the magic touch he had in him and his batting has become awful.

Shapovalov, who has been high on confidence, for his recent victories over Rafael Nadal, Jo Wilfred Tsonga and Juan Martin Del Porto, was pushed till the edge by Bhambri in the second singles tie on Friday. Despite being the younger of the two, Shapovalov, 51, has a better ranking when compared to Bhambri’s 157 ATP ranking. Yuki proved that his recent win over world number 22 Gael Monfils was not one-off and he is capable of giving a good fight to the world’s top players when he forced the Canadian to play his first-ever five-setter match.

Real Madrid claimed their second silverware of the season, when they defeated arch-rivals Barcelona 2-0 (5-1 on aggregate) in the second leg of the Spanish Super Cup, at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday night.

A Marco Asensio blinder early in the game and a Karim Benzema strike late in the first-half were enough for Zinedine Zidane’s side to seal the deal, after coming into the game with a 3-1 lead from the first leg at the Camp Nou. Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez did strike the woodwork in the second period, but could not put up a fight against the Galacticos and were deservedly defeated.

Madrid continued their ascension under Zidane, winning their seventh trophy since the Frenchman took over back in January 2016.

The year 2017 has so far, been the year of the veterans in tennis, especially in the men’s singles event. Dominating the current generation, left, right and centre, the legends Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, have each played two out of the three Grand Slam finals, with the year’s final Slam yet to start. While Federer recreated the magic my winning the mind-boggling 19th Grand Slam when he clinched a record eighth Wimbledon title, Nadal was not far behind. He tasted his share of glory when he triumphed in the Rolland Garros for a record 10th time.

The Novak Djokovics, the Stan Wawrikas, the Andy Murrays and other top tennis players have been conveniently pushed down by these two. When World No. 1 Murray pulled out of US Open Series with a hip injury, it was comprehended that he had just another week of holding the No. 1 crown. The following week it would either be Nadal or Federer and with the Spaniard being World No. 2 at present, he seemed to be on the pole position.

England came bouncing back after a massive defeat at Nottingham at the hands of South Africa in the four-match series, to take a 2-1 lead at the Oval. In a series where the equilibrium has shifted in a see-saw or hourglass pattern, whatever you wish to call it, England now look like they have one hand on the trophy.

England came bouncing back after a massive defeat at Nottingham at the hands of South Africa in the four-match series, to take a 2-1 lead at the Oval. In a series where the equilibrium has shifted in a see-saw or hourglass pattern, whatever you wish to call it, England now look like they have one hand on the trophy.

Sri Lanka’s Rangana Herath has been one of the most prolific spin bowlers ever. The left-arm spinner has been his country’s biggest match-winner for quite a while now and has gone from strength to strength with time. Despite his numerous achievements and fantastic records, though, Herath has, for some reason, never been appreciated as much as he should be. He is a true modern great and a perfect role model for the future generation who should be given his due credit.

Here are looking five reasons why reasons that Rangana Herath is the most underrated legend of the game.

Repaying faith of the selectors and justifying his inclusion in the Indian team has been Shikhar Dhawan’s career norm. Although it is something he’s been doing rather unknowingly, some would say coincidentally. On Day One of the first Test between India and Sri Lanka at Galle, when India won a crucial toss, Virat Kohli said, “KL Rahul is down with flu, so Dhawan steps in place”. Sounded strange. Had Rahul been fit, Abhinav Mukund would have opened with him? What followed was bludgeoning of a listless, on-their-knees Sri Lankan bowling attack that was spearheaded by their legendary spinner Rangana Herath.

The word you would associate with Dhawan’s innings early on would be ‘rhythm’. Continuing to prosper from his limited-overs form — his last 10 ODI innings read – 68, 125, 78, 46, 21, 87, 63, 2, 5, 4 (comprise the Champions Trophy where he ended up being the highest-run getter, as well as India’s tour of West Indies). Dhawan carried the same confidence into the first Test. On Wednesday, he began with playing the ball on merit, played the drive whenever pitched up while making most of any bad delivery against the seamers. He looked sound with his technique and settled in smoothly at the crease.

Virat Kohli and his boys have finally returned to the picturesque coastal town of Galle  the venue, from where their journey of becoming the top Test playing nation in the world had started back in 2015. The graph of the Indian Test side has gone only upwards following that narrow defeat in the series opener at Galle. Since then India have registered 14 wins out of 20 Tests against the Lankans, West Indies, New Zealand, England, Bangladesh and Australia.

Now, once again the Indian team is in the lion’s den, aspiring to continue their golden run in the five-day format.

Sri Lanka, meanwhile, have always been a tough opponent to play against at their own backward. Especially, with 17 victories out of 29 Tests, Galle has been like a fortress for them. In fact, despite their poor run of late, it wont be easy for the Indians to gun down the Lankan team easily over here.

Being the No. 1 side, Virat Kohli and Co. are expected to be proactive to get the momentum early in the series. Well, they could have certainly done it by playing someone like young left-arm chinaman spinner Kuldeep Yadav in the eleven, right from the first Test as a third spinning option along with Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. The spin-trio can be backed up by the two seamers, Mohammad Shami and most probably Umesh Yadav. With the batting prowess of Ashiwn and Jadeja, playing an extra bowler wont cost India much, in terms of the batting fire-power.

Virat Kohli and his boys have finally returned to the picturesque coastal town of Galle — the venue, from where their journey of becoming the top Test playing nation in the world had started back in 2015. The graph of the Indian Test side has gone only upwards following that narrow defeat in the series opener at Galle. Since then India have registered 14 wins out of 20 Tests against the Lankans, West Indies, New Zealand, England, Bangladesh and Australia.

Now, once again the Indian team is in the lion’s den, aspiring to continue their golden run in the five-day format.

Sri Lanka, meanwhile, have always been a tough opponent to play against at their own backward. Especially, with 17 victories out of 29 Tests, Galle has been like a fortress for them. In fact, despite their poor run of late, it won’t be easy for the Indians to gun down the Lankan team easily over here.

Being the No. 1 side, Virat Kohli and Co. are expected to be proactive to get the momentum early in the series. Well, they could have certainly done it by playing someone like young left-arm chinaman spinner Kuldeep Yadav in the eleven, right from the first Test as a third spinning option along with Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. The spin-trio can be backed up by the two seamers, Mohammad Shami and most probably Umesh Yadav. With the batting prowess of Ashiwn and Jadeja, playing an extra bowler won’t cost India much, in terms of the batting fire-power.

After losing ODI series to Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka bounced back in the only Test at Colombo. Despite losing lead to Zimbabwe in first innings, Sri Lanka end up chasing a record total of 391 at home. With this record breaking Test, here are some interesting statistics from this contest.

391 runs scored by Sri Lanka while chasing against Zimbabwe in this Test. This is the highest successful chase in Asia. Previous best was 387 by India against England in 2008-09. This is also the 2nd highest successful chase by any side at home after West Indies’ 418 against Australia in 2003.

689 balls bowled by Zimbabwe in 4th innings of this Test, the most by any team in Sri Lanka on a losing cause. Previous best was 683 balls, which was also bowled by Zimbabwe in 1997-98.

Former South Africa captain Hashim Amla becomes 4th Proteas batsman to touch 8,000-run mark in Tests after Jacques Kallis (13,206 runs), Graeme Smith (9,253) and AB de Villiers (8,074). Overall, Amla become 30th batsman to achieve this feat in Tests. Amla reached the landmark during the ongoing 2nd Test between England and South Africa at Trent Bridge in the first innins of the match. Before this Test, Amla needed 8 runs to complete 8,000 Test runs. However, Amla is the slowest South African to reach this landmark and 8th slowest overall.

It took him 178 Test innings to complete 8,000-run mark. Moreover, it took him 12 years 228 days to to reach this feat. Amla made his Test debut in November 2004 and had a shaky start to his career. But soon, he grasped the momentum and became one of the most important part of South Africa’s Test side. His career changing series was against India in 2007-08, where he scored 307 runs at 61.4. He is the only South African to score a triple hundred in Tests, which came against England at The Oval in 2012. England has been his favourite opponent, when it comes to score big runs.

Mithali Raj becomes the first woman cricketer to score 6,000 runs in One-Day Internationals (ODI). She achieved this feat during the ICC Women’s World Cup 2017 match against Australia at Bristol. Mithali also reached the 6,000-run mark with a six. She needed 41 to achieve this feat ahead of the match. During this innings, she also went past Charlotte Edwards’ 5,992 runs, which was the highest in Women’s cricket in the shorter format.

Recently, Mithali was in the news as she was the first woman cricketer to score seven continuous fifties. Across genders, she is only behind Javed Miandad, who scord nine back-to-back half-centuries. Mithali made her ODI debut back in 1999 against Ireland. She has led India on over 100 matches and her batting average as captain is over 57. India have never won the World Cup and this might be the year that Mithali guides India to this feat. They have lost just one match in the tournament – to South Africa – and they look in pole position to move into the semi-final spot.

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